India's surprise test Sunday of a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead drew an ominous response from Pakistan's leaders, raising the specter of a new South Asian arms race. Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said that the missile launch was a matter of "deep concern" and hinted that his country would soon respond with a missile test of its own. "The decision will be taken in the coming days," Aziz said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The Indian government today test-fired a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets in China and Pakistan, a provocative move certain to inflame relations in the region. The test of the missile, named the Agni II, comes almost a year after the Indian government stunned the world by testing five nuclear warheads. Those tests prompted Pakistan to test its own nuclear warheads, and a prolonged international crisis ensued.

The Indian government today test-fired a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets in China and Pakistan, a provocative move certain to inflame relations in the region. The test of the missile, named the Agni II, comes almost a year after the Indian government stunned the world by testing five nuclear warheads. Those tests prompted Pakistan to test its own nuclear warheads, and a prolonged international crisis ensued.

India's surprise test Sunday of a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead drew an ominous response from Pakistan's leaders, raising the specter of a new South Asian arms race. Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said that the missile launch was a matter of "deep concern" and hinted that his country would soon respond with a missile test of its own. "The decision will be taken in the coming days," Aziz said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The top leaders of India and China declared Wednesday that a long-festering and still-unresolved border dispute will no longer be allowed to poison relations between the two nations. "Beginning with your visit, we can restore our relationship as friends," China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, declared to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi upon greeting him at the Great Hall of the People.

China and India ushered in a new era of cooperation Monday between the two most populous nations on the globe, endorsing a statement that made final their new partnerships in everything from border trade and regional diplomacy to outer space and the "new world order."

China announced that it and India will establish a group to tackle a border dispute that flared into a brief war in 1962 and has poisoned relations between the world's most populous nations ever since. The agreement was announced at the end of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's historic visit to Beijing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Zhaoxing also said that good will fostered by the Gandhi visit could lead to a solution to the border issue "in the near future."

IRAQ'S U.N. ambassador, Abdul Amir Anbari, said his nation sent letters to foreign ministers of all the nonaligned nations. He refused to discuss the contents. But Kuwait's ambassador said the letter urged governments to protest the allied bombardment of targets in Iraq. INDIAN Foreign Minister Vidya Charan Shukla flew to Beijing to seek China's support for a bid by the nonaligned nations to end the war. A PLO envoy is also in India.

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived here Monday on a visit intended to mark the end of 26 years of hostility between the world's two most populous nations. "I have come to renew our old friendship," Gandhi declared in a banquet speech Monday evening. "Stable and friendly relations between India and China will determine the destiny of our region--indeed, vitally influence the course of world history."

In the late 1960s, when China resisted international pressure to halt its neophyte nuclear weapons testing program, the regime here liked to quote a proverb from the ancient Zhou dynasty about inequities between powerful magistrates and the peasants they ruled. "The officials can burn down houses," the saying goes, "but the commoners are not even allowed to light their lamps."

China and India ushered in a new era of cooperation Monday between the two most populous nations on the globe, endorsing a statement that made final their new partnerships in everything from border trade and regional diplomacy to outer space and the "new world order."

Chinese Premier Li Peng left here today for a six-day visit to India aimed at boosting bilateral ties and further easing the lingering rancor left from a 1962 border war. China and India, the world's two most populous countries, are likely to mark the visit by calling for a stronger voice in international affairs for the world's poorer nations. Speaking to reporters before his departure, Li noted that his trip comes as dramatic events unfold in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

IRAQ'S U.N. ambassador, Abdul Amir Anbari, said his nation sent letters to foreign ministers of all the nonaligned nations. He refused to discuss the contents. But Kuwait's ambassador said the letter urged governments to protest the allied bombardment of targets in Iraq. INDIAN Foreign Minister Vidya Charan Shukla flew to Beijing to seek China's support for a bid by the nonaligned nations to end the war. A PLO envoy is also in India.

China announced that it and India will establish a group to tackle a border dispute that flared into a brief war in 1962 and has poisoned relations between the world's most populous nations ever since. The agreement was announced at the end of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's historic visit to Beijing. Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Zhaoxing also said that good will fostered by the Gandhi visit could lead to a solution to the border issue "in the near future."

The top leaders of India and China declared Wednesday that a long-festering and still-unresolved border dispute will no longer be allowed to poison relations between the two nations. "Beginning with your visit, we can restore our relationship as friends," China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, declared to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi upon greeting him at the Great Hall of the People.

Chinese Premier Li Peng left here today for a six-day visit to India aimed at boosting bilateral ties and further easing the lingering rancor left from a 1962 border war. China and India, the world's two most populous countries, are likely to mark the visit by calling for a stronger voice in international affairs for the world's poorer nations. Speaking to reporters before his departure, Li noted that his trip comes as dramatic events unfold in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

In the late 1960s, when China resisted international pressure to halt its neophyte nuclear weapons testing program, the regime here liked to quote a proverb from the ancient Zhou dynasty about inequities between powerful magistrates and the peasants they ruled. "The officials can burn down houses," the saying goes, "but the commoners are not even allowed to light their lamps."

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived here Monday on a visit intended to mark the end of 26 years of hostility between the world's two most populous nations. "I have come to renew our old friendship," Gandhi declared in a banquet speech Monday evening. "Stable and friendly relations between India and China will determine the destiny of our region--indeed, vitally influence the course of world history."